


Balance

by Wreybies



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Bending (Avatar), Gen, Post-Canon, Spirit World, mild AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 13:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15001907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wreybies/pseuds/Wreybies
Summary: I make no bones about the fact that I do not support the "genetic theory" as regards who is and who is not a bender.  I know Bryke has made it canon, but I chose to ignore.  I think there are so many other avenues for creativity when one looks at bending in a more spiritual manner.  I wrote this story as an answer to this discord.  I also took inspiration from the cycle of the lamas, upon which the Avatar is based.  I hope you like it.  :)January 28, 2013





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote a million years ago when I was all up in the Legend of Korra fandom. Perusing my old fanpage, this is one of the stories I had almost forgotten I ever wrote. I wrote this prior to the canonization of Korrasami by the creators (which I loved!), and though this story doesn't undermine that idea, nor is it meant to, the story itself isn't a ship-centric story.

   It was as beautiful a day as Korra had ever seen.   Sunny, breezy, and the happy company of Asami walking with her on this fine day.  They chatted about nothing and everything.  Asami showed Korra how good a friend she was by keeping the conversation light and away from anything Avatar.  She knew Korra needed these breaks away from who she was and was happy to oblige her.

   There was a _squeak clunk-clunk, squeak clunk-clunk_ behind them.  Asami turned and the look on her face made Korra turn as well.  They were being followed.  The little girl was thin and her eyes looked all the bigger for her thinness, but her arms looked unusually strong.  The wheel chair she was in explained the muscles. 

   “Avatar Korra?” said the little girl.  Asami gave Korra a glance indicating she would take care of this, but Korra laid her hand on Asami’s arm to detain her.

   “It’s ok, she must be a fan.”  Korra smiled her most brilliant smile and the little girl’s eyes lit up.  They were the same emerald green as Bolin’s, thought Korra.  So beautiful.  “That’s right, little lady.  I’m the Avatar.  What can I do for you?”

   The girl was silent.  Her eyes shifted back and forth between Korra and Asami.  Korra said, “This is my friend, Asami.  She’s pretty famous too, you know.”  Korra lifted both her eyebrows to show how impressed she was with Asami.

   “I know who she is.  She’s like me.  She’s not a bender.  But I want to be a bender.  Can you make me a bender, Avatar Korra?”

   It wasn’t the first time she had been asked, and usually it didn’t bother Korra too much to explain that she could not, but this time she felt her heart break just a little.  “Sweetie, I’m so sorry, but I can’t.”

   “I won’t tell anyone, I swear!  I know that if I told then everyone would want the same thing and no one would ever leave you alone.  I understand.  I swear I won’t say a thing.  If I was a bender, I could... I just...” Her voice tightened as hard as her little hands on the wheels of her chair.  An entire story was told in that instant.  She didn’t need to finish the sentence for Korra to know the frustration she must feel. 

   “What’s your name, hun?”  Korra asked.

   “Kima.” The answer came through a sob.

   “Where are your parents, Kima?”

   “I don’t have any.”

   “Where do you live, sweetie?”

   “Here.”

   “Here where?”

   “Here.  On the street.”

   “Sweetie, it’s not that I don’t want to.  I can’t.  It’s not in my power.”  The answer sounded so thin and weak to her own ears.  She opened her mouth to say something more, but her vision started to go dim and then went black. 

   She felt Asami grab hold of her shoulders to steady her, but the feeling was from miles away.  “Korra?  What’s wrong?  What’s happening?” Asami’s voice was a dreamed whisper.

   Korra heard a hissing like shifting sand.  It grow louder and gained pattern.  It was voices.  Many voices.  She strained to make out what they were saying in unison.  It coalesced.  “Try,” they said.  Korra had been visited by her past selves on many occasions, but never had she heard this.  Never this cacophony, this milieu of voices.  Instinctually she new that this was not many of her past selves.  This was all of them.  Her entire lineage.  They continued and grow louder.  Korra heard a scream and was sure it was her own voice somewhere removed. 

   There was a new presence now.  It was different to the rest.  It was vast and rounded and unmistakably feminine.  “Be still,” it said.  It was irresistible.  The inner crowd hushed and went silent.  “Try, Korra.”  The voice was so much more massive than the rest, yet it seemed only to whisper in her ear.

   “Who are you?” Korra thought or spoke.  Or perhaps both.  She was unsure.

   “I am Us,” the voice answered cryptically.

   “You don’t sound like the others.  You don’t sound like anything I have ever heard.” Korra did not mask her skepticism.

   “I am the unpainted canvas.  I am the unwritten story.  I am Us.  I am the Origin.  I am that which passes from one life to the next in the Avatar cycle.  I am your spirit self.”

   “What do you want from me?”

   “What you are tasked to do.  Bring balance to the world.  Try and heal that girl.”

   “She was never a bender.  There is nothing for me to heal.”

   “Look into her.  There is always something to heal, Avatar.  Even in you.  Try, Korra.  This will be the greatest task any Avatar has ever undertaken.  I, we, all of Us will be with you to help you, but you must find that which needs healing.”

   Korra gasped for air as if she had been underwater for too long.

   “Korra?!  Are you alright?  You were just zoned out.  What’s going on?”  Asami’s hand held her tensely with fear for her friend. 

   “I’m fine, Asami.  I’m fine.”  She looked down at Kima.  “You’re coming with us, Kima.  I can’t promise anything, but I’m going to give it shot.”

 

* * *

 

   An hour later they were on Air Temple Island.  Tenzin listened intently, as he always did, to Korra’s retelling of what had happened.  His piercing gaze held Korra’s eyes when she had finished.

   “Why her, Korra?” he asked.

   “I don’t know.  There have been hundreds who have asked me for the same thing since I healed those who Amon had blocked from bending, but this is the first time my past selves have taken control of me.  Ever!  They’ve never done that!  And I’m telling you, one voice stood out from the rest and said it was my spirit self, not one of my past incarnations.”

   Tenzin stared at the floor for a few moments and then sighed loudly though his nose.  “Well, I think we’d better get some accommodations ready for our young guest.”  In the blink of an eye his face changed and he melted into the caring father.  “You can sleep with Ikki, child.  She’ll talk your ear off, but she means well.”  He winked at her.  Kima’s tension vanished and her grip on the chair released. 

 

* * *

 

   The next day...

   “I’ve tried this before, Kima, and nothing happened.  I don’t want you to get your hopes up.  Ok?”  Korra kneeled in front of Kima.

   “I understand.  What do you want me to do?”

   “Well, it’s a little awkward to do this with you in that chair.  Can I help you out of it and we can both sit on the floor?” 

   “Yeah, but you’ll have to lift me.”

   “Ok, sweetie.”  Korra reached up under her arms and Kima wrapped her arms around Korra’s neck.  Her arms were as strong as they looked but Korra felt a sadness at how light she was.  _Just a little bird_ , she thought.  She put her down and Kima used her hands to arrange her legs to sit. 

   “Now what?”  Kima asked.

   “Well, now we see what happens.  Just relax.  I’m going to put my hand on your forehead.”  Kima nodded and closed her eyes.  Korra placed her hand gently, focused, turning her awareness inward and entered the Avatar state.  Us was there.

   “You must learn her first, Korra.  You must know her.  I will guide you the first steps.  After that, it’s up to you.”  Korra assented silently.  She did not feel the usual welling of the elements, each of their personalities making itself known to her.  Instead there was a shifting.  A displacement.  A sudden feeling that she was elsewhere. 

   Kima was before her.  Standing.  Tall and beautiful.  Korra went to her and hugged her fiercely.  “Look at you!” she praised.

   “This is the real me, Korra.”

   “Is this what I’m supposed to learn about you?”

   “No.  Even this is still part of my physical self.  This the way I see myself.  Now you have to learn what I am.”  Kima lifted her hand and Korra saw her fingers take the shape she herself used when she healed those who had been violated by Amon.  Kima’s beautiful green eyes began to glow.

   “How are you doing that?  How are you in the Avatar state?”  Korra was shocked to the core.

   Kima’s hand paused.  “Trust me, Korra.”  It was Kima’s voice and behind it, around it, within it, was Us.  Korra closed her eyes and submitted.  She felt Kima’s gentle touch on her forehead knowing that these were just representations.  This was not taking place in the physical world, but somewhere else.  And she began to fall.  Like wind before a storm she felt herself falling through the essence of Kima.  She reached for support.  Her arms were absent.  This new place was not a place for bodies.  She calmed herself and felt the presence of Us reassure her.

   “I will follow no further, Korra, but you are on the right path.  Find her and know her.  Know yourself.”  Us shone like a sun and was gone.

 _Know yourself?_   Wondered Korra.  _What does that mean?_   Korra focused and went inward as always when she wanted to achieve the Avatar state.  _Know her?  Know yourself?  Kima had seemed to be in the Avatar state, perhaps this is how I will find her._

   Water.  It came like a wave.  It came cool and healing.  It was the womb.  It was Korra’s center when the other elements seemed to go awry.  It was her balance.  Another stream came through.  This one equally healing, but somehow more compassionate.  It was Kima.   _Kima is Water!_   Korra felt joy in finding a sister.  In Kima’s stream she saw things.  She saw Kima begging for food and sharing it with the other street urchins who where ignored by pedestrians because they seemed whole and sound.  Kima had turned her disadvantage into an asset.  She was water taking the shape of her container.  Filling it and making it her own.  Others protected her.  She was safe from harm because of her charity.  She was a part of her little community.  Without her, it was less.  With her, it was whole.

 _This is Avatar work,_ thought Korra.  _For this alone, my respect for you is endless, little one._

   The stream pulled down.

   There was the unmistakable feel of earth beneath her ethereal feet.  It seemed to hold her as the water slipped away.  She became as a tree, rooted.  The strength of Earth came up through non-existent legs and she became as a mountain.  _Kima is also Earth? How can this be?_   Korra felt her confusion steadied by the core of Kima’s Earth-self.  Korra saw Kima talking her friends out of silly arguments and scuffles.  She was the mediator.  She was solidity and firmness.  Her compassion dwelt in Water, but her pragmatism was made of Earth. 

_I thought I was going to heal you, little one.  I think here, I am the student and you are the master.  Sifu-Kima._

   The mountain that was Korra and also Kima rumbled.  It exploded.  Fire raged.  The landscape was laid waste.  Fire was the harbinger of Kima’s anger, her frustration.  It was not her friend.  Korra saw how Kima bottled her frustration and kept it within.  She never expressed her fears or her self-pity.  Kima was also Fire, but it was _not_ under her control.  It was only contained. 

 _Help me with this!_ Kima’s voice was a wail and scream.  It was the tortured sound of white-hot metal. 

 _You must let it burn, little one.  Fire is a means to an end.   You cannot contain it, but you can guide it.  For that, you need Air._   Korra found her own inner Air and scoured the hot plains of Kima’s fire.  She pulled it up, up the spewing magma.  Up over the peek of the mountain.  She felt Kima’s Air join her’s in a wind, in a hurricane.  It pulled with it Water and also Earth.  The mountain below added it’s Fire and Korra spun them together and Kima picked up the movement and made it spin faster.  They were goddesses.  They danced together and the universe shook. 

   Us was there.  Us was pride and love and protection. 

   “You see, Korra.  The elements are there in everyone.  All people.  But there is one more thing to learn, my sisters.”

   Korra felt her elements coalesce.  Kima became a bright point.  They were stars.  They were suns.  They orbited one another and the sound of time and space became a song.  They spun closer and closer and joined.

   A field.  I vast plain of golden grass.  White topped mountains were lavender in the distance.  The sky was a perfect blue and the clouds were friendly.  Kima stood before her.  She was actinic in her radiance.  She was beautiful.  She was beauty.

   Korra found that she also had a form.  She was also actinic.  Her hands glowed.  Her entire body.  The Avatar state was beaming out from every inch of her.  “Are you an Avatar too, Kima?”

   “Not exactly.  What you call the Avatar state is actually a connection.  It is a bridge between yourself in the physical plane and yourself in the Spirit World.  Us explained everything to me.  We are to be teachers, you and I.  The Avatar’s role is to bring balance to the world, but no Avatar has yet managed to find the true balance.  That is why the Avatar cycle continues.  True balance will be achieved when the people are reconnected with their whole selves.”  Kima smiled and she looked to Korra’s right.

   Aang was there.  Of all her past selves, Aang was her dearest friend.  They were opposites in so many ways, but those oppositions were what made them the same.  “This is the wisdom the Lion Turtle gave us before I had to face the Fire Lord, Korra.  We, you and I, all of Us are a symbol.  We are a reminder to the people that they are greater than the sum of their parts.  We keep the knowledge alive that we all have a spirit self, a power within us, that makes all of us Avatars, in a way.  But even the Avatar is only a shadow of what lies within each of us.  The Lion Turtle taught me about energy bending.  Controlling the energy that flows in each of us, in all things.  Element bending is a parlor trick in comparison.  Energy bending is how we connect with our complete self.  Kima is right.  It is a bridge.  A connection.  The Avatar state is just a temporary path.  What you and Kima will teach the world will be a permanent road.  The two halves will be made whole.  The two, made one.  Balance.  You will be the first energy benders the world has seen in milenia.  You will usher in a new age.  There will no longer be benders and non-benders.  This is in everyone.  It is for everyone.”  Aang faded.

   Kima bowed to Korra, “You have kept the knowledge alive within you for centuries, Avatar Korra.  Now we will spread the knowledge to the people.”  She bowed in respect.

   “Sifu-Kima, when I first saw you, I felt pity and a need to help you.  I am humbled at the being that is you.  I am proud to be your partner in this.  We will spread the knowledge to the people.  We will bring balance to the world.”  Korra bowed. 

   They came awake.  They still glowed, but it was fading now.  Mako, Bolin and Asami were in the room, each wide eyed.

   “What the heck was that?” Bolin almost yelled.

   “Korra.  Did it work?”  Asami was much calmer.  Always the level head.

   Korra took a deep breath and looked to Kima.  “I think it did, but not the way any of us expected.  “I want you all to meet Kima.  She’s... She’s not an Avatar, she’s something else.  I’m something else.  We are something new and also ancient.  We're energy benders.”  Korra stood.  “Do you feel alright, Kima?”

   Kima placed her fist into her palm and her glow became brilliant.  Everyone in the room was taken by surprise as a wash of love and caring, of appreciation and thankfulness swept over them. 

   “ _That’s_ how I feel.”  She smiled.  


End file.
